tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25419820130002514312019-09-13T00:13:41.660-04:00Snow White and the Asian PearKorean beauty product reviews, Asian cosmetic guides, sheet masks, snails, &amp; spreadsheetsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-20052098133014938342018-11-27T12:00:00.000-05:002018-11-27T13:18:16.538-05:00Giving Tuesday Destash: the Snails Send Self-Care<div>I&#39;m hopping out of hibernation early this year; I have a few posts upcoming but they&#39;re being temporarily shelved for something more important. It&#39;s <b>Giving Tuesday</b> and I want to talk about what I, my fellow Snails, and you can do with our <b>neglected-but-new beauty products</b>, <b>unwanted gifts-with-purchase</b>, and mountains of <b>foil samples </b>we&#39;ve guiltily<b> banished to the back of our skincare stash</b>.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3mTJBQ6XCo/W_yOQNYHmNI/AAAAAAAAQks/cPQilwQa6esnLYxNQ9edb_1HXgFzAjxIgCLcBGAs/s1600/SnailcastGivingTuesday.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1600" height="374" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A3mTJBQ6XCo/W_yOQNYHmNI/AAAAAAAAQks/cPQilwQa6esnLYxNQ9edb_1HXgFzAjxIgCLcBGAs/s640/SnailcastGivingTuesday.JPG" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You&#39;ve probably been there: unexpected 1+1 gifts with purchase, loads of random foil samples, unwanted sheet masks, deluxe mini sizes of products we&#39;ll never use.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>I&#39;ve got a lot of convoluted feelings about the term &quot;self-care&quot; and how it&#39;s been co-opted from its original activist roots into a marketing slogan. The <u><a href="https://www.thesnailcast.com/episode-32-evolution-self-care/" target="_blank">Snailcast episode The Evolution of Self-Care</a></u> dives deep into the topic, so I won&#39;t get too wild on it here. This post is about gifting packages of <b>self-care to women in need</b>, and where and what you can send if you&#39;d like to do so yourself.<br><br>Doing something that&#39;s genuinely helpful for others, especially in the wake of the Black Friday consumerism hangover, feels like exactly what&#39;s needed right now.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2018/11/giving-tuesday-snails-send-self-care.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-24916096475467228282018-05-21T09:30:00.000-04:002018-05-21T14:16:42.322-04:004 Minute Morning: My Quick 6-Step K-Beauty Routine<div>How long does it take to do a multi-step Korean beauty product routine? A lot less time than I thought, as it turns out. Gone are the old days of lazy 20+ minute AM routines, where I could leisurely apply layers of products between answering emails and sipping my coffee.<br><br>My AM routine now consists of potty dancing in front of my mirror as I slap on products while my puppy chirps and whines to be let out of her crate. It&#39;s easy to slap on a bunch of products as fast as possible, but it&#39;s trickier to have them absorb in time for your sunscreen to safely adhere to your face.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-krCvBzIWT0Q/WwIcWhQyhhI/AAAAAAAAOGY/3k_aJb1q6zIyF7hyDLWDmmOkanVNMkiUQCLcBGAs/s1600/6StepFastKBeautyMorningRoutine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fast K-Beauty morning routine" border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-krCvBzIWT0Q/WwIcWhQyhhI/AAAAAAAAOGY/3k_aJb1q6zIyF7hyDLWDmmOkanVNMkiUQCLcBGAs/s640/6StepFastKBeautyMorningRoutine.jpg" title="Fast K-Beauty morning routine" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It&#39;s fast, it&#39;s fervent, it&#39;s done on a full bladder: it&#39;s my 3 minute and 47 second K-Beauty morning routine</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>It&#39;s also as hot and humid AF right now, which means my sunscreen wants to slide into my eyes as soon as I step out the door, resulting in me staggering around my yard trying to wipe my burning, streaming eyes like a freshly maced frat boy. I need my products in place <i>and </i>locked down against the summer heat, and that&#39;s a lot harder to do in the time it takes for the puppy to lose patience and start chewing her bed.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>It&#39;s all in the timing; a simple change made a big difference</b></li><li><b>Which 6 steps are necessities</b></li><li><b>A full face with +2 minutes extra</b></li></ul><br>Trying to get all this stuff done in stages, in between her AM potty break and AM playtime, just wasn&#39;t working for me. Instead of popping outside in a hat, doing the thing, and zipping back indoors for my next step, anything less than a fully ready face resulted in me chasing her around the yard trying to dig rocks, sticks, and occasionally my shoe out of her mouth, <i>without </i>sun protection. Hat + chasing down a speedy tinydog = unplanned sun exposure.<br><br>Necessity was the mother of inventing a workable AM routine so fast I decided to time it to see just how long it took for me to roll out the door, ready for puppy potty &amp; playtime in the summer sun.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2018/05/quick-morning-k-beauty-routine.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-6548585081040246962018-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:002018-04-09T11:17:52.112-04:00Take My Money: Swatches, Sulwhasoo Balancing Water First Impressions, & Beautytap Review<div>You know those shops that you always have on your radar, yet somehow never purchase from? That was me with <u><a href="http://beautytap.com/" target="_blank">Beautytap</a></u> (née W2Beauty); it&#39;s been around for years, quietly part of the Korean-based shop landscape, a site I&#39;d often check for new releases but ultimately bail on my cart, usually due to the high price tags and lack of distinction from the many other options I had for buying K-Beauty.<br><br>That changed when W2Beauty changed; all of a sudden they started doing smart things like bringing on top K-Beauty bloggers (like Coco Park of <u><a href="http://thebeautywolf.com/" target="_blank">The Beauty Wolf</a></u> and Sheryll of <u><a href="http://thewanderlustproject.com/" target="_blank">The Wanderlust Project</a></u>) for their new <u><a href="https://beautytap.com/editorial/" target="_blank">Editorial</a></u> section. Instead of the usual thinly veiled &quot;advertorial&quot; in-house blogs run by shops to shill their wares, they started publishing original content that was <i>good</i>, written by people who knew what they were talking about.<br><br>W2Beauty was always legit, but once it turned into Beautytap it seriously upped its game, and I started plotting out my second order before I even received the first.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT2d2g6h7zU/WsffJ-aVzHI/AAAAAAAAMl0/M-aqtrTeoqc-wG2YyVBh6b0OB-4uVqq5ACLcBGAs/s1600/beautytapopened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Beautyap haul products" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT2d2g6h7zU/WsffJ-aVzHI/AAAAAAAAMl0/M-aqtrTeoqc-wG2YyVBh6b0OB-4uVqq5ACLcBGAs/s640/beautytapopened.jpg" title="Beautyap haul products" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Once this SWS water went on sale, it was tiiiiiiime</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>They also hired people who knew K-Beauty; they brought on Fiddy Snails (of <u><a href="http://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u> and <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">The Snailcast</a></u> podcast) who unleashed terrible things upon the unsuspecting K-Beauty community, like daily flash sales of fancy products that gave me flares of grabby-handitis and made my wallet weep.<br><br>All sorts of products that I&#39;d regulated to the &quot;if I ever won the lottery&quot; wishlist are now regularly appearing in their daily deals, and I need Snesus because they&#39;re trying to kill me.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FE32mV5t4ck/WsfdQa0iWUI/AAAAAAAAMlY/xHU7yDAZUgk-AUXXwqAgTH_iteZWDd1qgCLcBGAs/s1600/TwitterBT.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="twitter screenshot" border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="785" height="478" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FE32mV5t4ck/WsfdQa0iWUI/AAAAAAAAMlY/xHU7yDAZUgk-AUXXwqAgTH_iteZWDd1qgCLcBGAs/s640/TwitterBT.JPG" title="" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This was some friendly fire, y&#39;all.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li>Am I affiliated with Beautytap?</li><li>Shopping experience: pros, cons, &amp; why I&#39;ll continue to shop there</li><li>Swatch &amp; first impressions: Peripera Ink Airy Velvet #10 Dry Rose Brown</li><li>Swatch &amp; first impressions: Sulwhasoo Essential Balancing Water EX</li></ul><br>You might wonder why I&#39;d bother doing something as old-hat as a haul post/shop review, but 1. the world always needs more swatches, and 2. there&#39;s a lot more to say about a haul from Beautytap that I definitely want to cover. Plus, hanbang. <i>Haaaannnbaaaangggg</i>.<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2018/04/beautytap-review-sulwhasoo-water.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-58330095402974356672018-02-19T09:00:00.000-05:002018-02-20T09:12:11.282-05:00Love Me Low [pH] & Gently: Make P:rem Safe Me Cleanser Review<div>You know what I should be doing daily? Washing my face with something other than puppy slobber and the occasional half-hearted swipe of <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/actives%20review" target="_blank">BHA exfoliant</a></u> on a cotton square. Somehow, though, that hasn&#39;t quite always worked out as I planned, much like my plans to raise a perfectly trained, polite dog that doesn&#39;t jump on people&#39;s faces to greet them and isn&#39;t plotting diabolical schemes to procure bits of steak on demand.<br><br>That had quite a bit to do with why I&#39;m reviewing the <b>Make P:rem Safe Me Relief Moisture Cleansing Foam</b>, but I&#39;ll get to that shortly.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vbn7ZZYqy-8/Wowsi33IuHI/AAAAAAAALAQ/rx_dxkL2CmsTnnqLqrBnaRhLnpEysVougCLcBGAs/s1600/MakePremSafeMeFoamCleanserReviews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Make Prem Safe Me Relief Moisture low pH foam cleanser" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vbn7ZZYqy-8/Wowsi33IuHI/AAAAAAAALAQ/rx_dxkL2CmsTnnqLqrBnaRhLnpEysVougCLcBGAs/s640/MakePremSafeMeFoamCleanserReviews.jpg" title="Make Prem Safe Me Relief Moisture low pH foam cleanser review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>Sure it says it&#39;s pH 5.5, but is it really? We&#39;ve been mislead and our wallets waylaid before.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br>As it turns out, puppy slobber can be pretty irritating, or perhaps it&#39;s just the combination of noncon puppy tongue baths + the winter elements when it&#39;s 11pm and -18C** and you&#39;re outside huddled in your jacket chanting &quot;go potty, go potty&quot; like some sort of scatologically-obsessed cult member. Wind chapping is no joke, I&#39;d almost forgotten what real winter weather is like after a decade outside Canada.<br><br><span style="font-size: x-small;">**That&#39;s just below zero Fahrenheit for my non-metric peeps out there.</span><br><br>It turns out that skin savaged by winter like the twitterstorm that obliterated <i>that</i> article about the &quot;skincare con&quot;, isn&#39;t thrilled about the application of products. Especially cleansers (<u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2014/09/skincare-discovery-why-ph-of-your.html" target="_blank">even low pH ones</a></u>) gamely trying to strip the last remnants of lubrication out of your moisture barrier.<br><br>While digging through my stash (much like my dog in our doomed garden, except with less mud and no eating of unknown objects) I realized I had a full tube of the <b>Make P:rem Safe Me Relieving Moisture foaming cleanser</b> waiting to be used. I had bought the full size after going through several sample sachets, and remembered liking its gentle, mild foam. It&#39;s also low pH (as proclaimed proudly on the packaging) and into my bathroom it went, standing like a lone, forlorn soldier against the tide of unholy bacteria no doubt marching across my face.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li>Product details</li><li>Ingredients</li><li>Does it foam, though?</li><li>Cleansing demo</li><li>Overall thoughts</li></ul><div><br></div>I suppose not everyone is as concerned with the qualifications and performance of their cleansers as I am, but everyone&#39;s got their kinks. Mine is for low pH cleansers that snuggle my skin&#39;s horny layer with soft suds and sultry scents, and I&#39;m not ashamed. Let&#39;s roll!<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2018/02/make-prem-safe-me-relief-moisture-foam.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-4023962399040672252017-07-10T09:30:00.000-04:002017-07-10T12:54:30.068-04:00First Impressions & Swatches: Make P:rem Blue Ray Sunscreen<div>Good all-physical UV filter sunscreens are hard to find. &quot;Physical&quot; filter (also known as &quot;inorganic&quot;) sunscreens are sought by people with sensitive skin and/or reactions to chemical UV (also known as &quot;organic&quot;) filters, such as yours truly. The most common recommendation request from phys-only sunscreen hunters is for a high protection rated sunscreen with no white cast.<br><br>Sadly, with phys-only sunscreens, that just doesn&#39;t exist. One of the two options, Titanium dioxide, is literally <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide#Pigment" target="_blank">used as white pigment</a></u>. Think back to your trusty tube of Titanium White in art class. That&#39;s your sunscreen filter bro giving your paints the &quot;<u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide#Pigment" target="_blank">whitest white</a></u>&quot; and also making your sunscreen search hell.<br><br>When my <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/09/goodal-mild-protect-natural-filter-sun.html" target="_blank">former favourite all-phys sunscreen</a></u> was possibly reformulated (it&#39;s not, but more on this later) and I was blown away by a <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/06/chemical-love-make-prem-capsule-sun-gel.html" target="_blank">chemical sunscreen I could actually use</a></u> from Make P:rem, I needed to get my ass in gear and test out some new all-physical options, stat. But I can&#39;t review the (orange cap) one I&#39;ve been using. More on that later too.<br><br>So here&#39;s a first impression of the <b>Make P:rem UV Defense Me Blue Ray Sun Cream SPF50+ PA++++</b>. That&#39;s right, <b>four </b>PA ratings.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikTaIJrEUYY/WWENd_zJ9GI/AAAAAAAAGvw/btRECFCgngUblE95aH9SxRLz0YIjshK2ACLcBGAs/s1600/MakePremUVDefenseMeBlueRaySunCream.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Make P:rem Blue Ray Sun Cream physical filter sunscreen" border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1505" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikTaIJrEUYY/WWENd_zJ9GI/AAAAAAAAGvw/btRECFCgngUblE95aH9SxRLz0YIjshK2ACLcBGAs/s640/MakePremUVDefenseMeBlueRaySunCream.JPG" title="Make P:rem Blue Ray Sun Cream physical filter sunscreen" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Our backyard wild bunnies were displeased that I plunked this down in their bun buffet patch.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>(Incidentally, if you&#39;d like to see one of the bun patch bunnies in action, I <u><a href="https://twitter.com/SnowWhitePear/status/883735527731716096" target="_blank">tweeted a short video of one that visited during this post here</a></u>.)<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Why this is a first impression instead of a full review, aka I&#39;m lightly brined by unfortunate developments</b></li><li><b>Differences between the orange (Natural) and blue (Blue Ray) cap versions</b></li><li><b>First impressions of the Blue Ray Sun Cream</b></li><li><b>White cast swatches on NC10 and NC30 skin tones</b></li><li><b>Is it worth it &amp; where to get it</b></li></ul><br>I was initially put off buying this version because I&#39;m highly suspicious of anything &quot;cooling&quot; because that usually means either 1. massive amounts of alcohol, or 2. added menthol, which can be highly irritating.<br><br>Just give me a high-rated sunscreen with physical (inorganic) filters that&#39;s pleasant to wear, doesn&#39;t break me out, and has minimal white cast. So how does the Make P:rem Blue Ray Sun Cream stack up?<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/07/make-prem-blue-ray-sun-cream.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-73212528203949854622017-06-20T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-20T13:20:12.863-04:00Weekend Travel Essentials For Lazy Summer SkincareI don&#39;t travel well. Or rather, I don&#39;t prepare for travel well. I always feel stressed out of proportion about the packing stage, and having a <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/01/skincare-discovery-putting-your.html" target="_blank">multi-step skincare routine</a></u> complicates even a simple weekend trip by car. Rather than fuss with what skincare to bring, I just grabbed necessities off my sink.<br><br>Does anyone else have issues with the sudden appearance of skin troubles during travel? It&#39;s like one&#39;s cycle; always picks the worst possible time to visit. With that in mind, I prepared for a skin rebellion just in case. They say that what you prepare for doesn&#39;t happen, after all.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n842bZxSa10/WUdtfDO5CGI/AAAAAAAAGsw/q5EgHiln2U4cEolWP7hb1KcGSFSzaIwogCLcBGAs/s1600/TravelSummerSkincare.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="K-Beauty skincare " border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1505" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n842bZxSa10/WUdtfDO5CGI/AAAAAAAAGsw/q5EgHiln2U4cEolWP7hb1KcGSFSzaIwogCLcBGAs/s640/TravelSummerSkincare.JPG" title="My weekend trip skincare stash" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I managed to snap these in between intermittent summer showers.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>It fit in a ziploc, at least. A large one.<br><br><h3><b>In this post:</b></h3><ul><li><b>Sunscreen</b></li><li><b>Double Cleansers</b></li><li><b>Clear Pores &amp; Soothe Skin</b></li><li><b>Brighten &amp; Moisturize</b></li><li><b>Nullify Blemishes</b></li><li><b>Cushion and Concealer</b></li><li><b>Mist because it&#39;s @#^$# hot out and heat makes me crabby</b></li></ul><br>Also, these photos will not only feature &quot;Skincare I Brought With Me to My In-Laws&#39; House&quot; but also &quot;Random Items I Pilfered From My Bemused Mother-In-Law&#39;s Decor For Photo Props&quot; and &quot;Gifts Of Quirky Things She Correctly Thought I&#39;d Like, Such As Old Books And Shiny Things&quot; because hey, you work with what you have on hand when you&#39;re travelling. It&#39;s ... a metaphor. Something about necessity, or something.<br><br>Anyway, here&#39;s what I brought to keep me safe, sane, and with as few surprise pimples as possible.<br><br><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/06/travel-essentials-lazy-summer-skincare.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-39592134517569120072017-06-12T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-12T12:27:22.253-04:00Feelin' Fancy: Sulwhasoo Hydro-aid Mist Review<div>Summer skincare usually consists of <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/cleanser%20review" target="_blank">cleanser</a></u>, <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/07/science-meets-k-beauty-wisdom-how.html" target="_blank">chilled sheet masks</a></u>, maybe a <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/actives%20review" target="_blank">BHA chemical exfoliant</a></u> to battle my oily and sweaty pores, and mists. Lots of mists. &#39;Tis the season for mists, because it&#39;s hot and humid and everyone is miserable, and mists are light and most importantly, <b>refreshing</b>.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tsm3e0tOd3s/WT2lNwhcEOI/AAAAAAAAGq0/pOrebuh6q4cqI_uaaf0DIS21uIUuc4pGgCLcB/s1600/SulwhasooHydroaidMoisturizingLiftingMistReview.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sulwhasoo Hydro-aid Mist Review" border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1505" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tsm3e0tOd3s/WT2lNwhcEOI/AAAAAAAAGq0/pOrebuh6q4cqI_uaaf0DIS21uIUuc4pGgCLcB/s640/SulwhasooHydroaidMoisturizingLiftingMistReview.PNG" title="Sulwhasoo Hydro-aid Mist Review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Benefit of photographing a mist: you can use it in between shots to cool off. Which I dd. A lot.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br><br>Although this is a fancy full size bottle, I&#39;ve actually used (and emptied) a travel size of this mist before. You might recognize the travel size from posts such as <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/02/k-beauty-portion-control-why-sometimes.html" target="_blank">K-Beauty &amp; Portion Control: Why Sometimes Good Value Can Be a Bad Idea</a></u>, and <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/plotting-winter-kbeauty-routine.html" target="_blank">Winter is Coming: Plotting My K-Beauty Skincare Routine for Colder Weather</a></u>.<br><br><h3><br>In this post</h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients</b></li><li><b>4 ways I use mists</b></li><li><b>Where to get full and travel-sizes</b></li><li><b>Final thoughts</b></li></ul><br><br>Unfortunately, I have no idea where my travel size bottle has gotten to; it&#39;s probably sill buried in an unpacked box somewhere, like 99% of my post-move beauty stash. However, during the recent snail rout in NYC, I received a gift bag of goodies from Amore Pacific and conveniently a full size of this mist was in it.<br><br>So while bottle in these photos is from Sulwhasoo, it&#39;s a product <b>I&#39;ve already purchased and used on my own</b>. It&#39;s no longer sold on their US site regardless. I haven&#39;t opened this one yet, but I&#39;ll happily commandeer it for photos.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/06/sulwhasoo-hydro-aid-mist-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-75871816154312808352017-06-05T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:25.055-04:00Chemical Love: Make P:rem Capsule Sun Gel Review<div>Yes, the Make P:rem UV Defense Me Capsule Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ is an all-chemical/organic sunscreen. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill: this a chemical sunscreen review, on my blog. I know, I can scarcely believe it either.<br><br>If you told me two months ago I would be writing a review on a chemical sunscreen with anything to say but &quot;it made my face break out into burning pimples of angry rage&quot; I would never have believed you. All my life, chemical sunscreens have made me want to claw my own face off. It&#39;s been all-physical/inorganic sunscreens or bust for me.<br><br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_leVCW8yB1Q/WTTKQBQWfMI/AAAAAAAAGo4/1cZ-mOebDwoP92FvP2cuBTYk0pcPgyTIgCLcB/s1600/MakePremSunscreenUVDefenseCapsuleGel.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Make P:rem UV Defense Me Capsule Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1506" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_leVCW8yB1Q/WTTKQBQWfMI/AAAAAAAAGo4/1cZ-mOebDwoP92FvP2cuBTYk0pcPgyTIgCLcB/s640/MakePremSunscreenUVDefenseCapsuleGel.PNG" title="Make P:rem UV Defense Me Capsule Sun Gel SPF50+ PA+++ Review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">When you&#39;re that friend who brings a tray and their camera to Sunday afternoon dinners because they need to take photos while the light is still good. #bloggerfriendproblems</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>It&#39;s fitting that the combined enabling powers of the HolyFan duo from <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">The Snailcast</a></u> are to blame for this unexpected development. During our first ever live snail rout in NYC, we converged on <u><a href="http://fanserviced-b.com/" target="_blank">Fanserviced-b</a></u>&#39;s HQ loaded with travel-friendly sample sizes and decants.<br><br>After wearing this sunscreen on my neck and chest without incident, I was willing to risk it. Drunk on the spirit of yolo (or maybe it was the <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BTNN184jO0a/?taken-by=thesnailcast" target="_blank">White Girl Rosé</a></u>) I patch tested it on my face, expecting the usual burning, itchy reaction. Nothing untoward happened, unless you count our decision to try freezing the dregs of the wine in an adult novelty mold. Which I don&#39;t. 🍆<br><br><h3><b>In this post</b></h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients &amp; UV filters</b></li><li><b>My theories on why this isn&#39;t destroying my face</b></li><li><b>Swatches</b></li><li><b>Final thoughts, wear time, and how it plays with makeup</b></li></ul><br><br>On the final day, I recklessly wore this sunscreen all over my face, determined to test it as much as possible in the time we had left. To my amazement, my skin didn&#39;t protest and I made it to my PM routine without incident.<br><br><i>HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!</i> A chemical sunscreen! <i>On my face!</i> I have some theories on what might be going on, and after chatting with a few others who have the same sunscreen woes, there may be hope for us yet.<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/06/chemical-love-make-prem-capsule-sun-gel.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-51117387698717848262017-05-29T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.970-04:00Sulwhasoo Golden Bird 2017 Limited Edition Cushion<div>Forget what I had planned to review, my <b>Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion Brightening Golden Bird 2017 Limited Edition</b> beauty is here! It&#39;s time for photos, swatches, more photos, and also photos. Because <i>rawr</i>.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DalFUQdTiKE/WSiO7xDw1kI/AAAAAAAAGjc/mh-W6V2eM7MF6rUldhxFlnBqU6pmLX-zwCLcB/s1600/Sulwhasoo2017LimitedEditionCushion.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion Brightening Golden Bird 2017 Limited Edition" border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DalFUQdTiKE/WSiO7xDw1kI/AAAAAAAAGjc/mh-W6V2eM7MF6rUldhxFlnBqU6pmLX-zwCLcB/s640/Sulwhasoo2017LimitedEditionCushion.PNG" title="Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion Brightening Golden Bird 2017 Limited Edition" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I&#39;m such a sucker for metallic accents like this. The shinier, the better! #magpiethings</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>There are <i>two </i>Limited Edition versions of the Perfecting cushions, the regular Perfecting and the Perfecting Brightening; this is the latter. <u>T<a href="http://www.sulwhasoo.com/int/en/products/make_up/perfecting-cushion-limited-edition.html#" target="_blank">hey&#39;re both gorgeous though, it was hard to choose</a></u>. You all know I&#39;m forever a <strike>ho for</strike> fan of <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/Sulwhasoo" target="_blank">all things Sulwhasoo</a></u> and their Peony 2014 Limited Edition Cushion is one of my prized K-Beauty possessions.<br><br>Sulwhasoo releases Limited Edition cushions and powders every few years, but the last few have left my enthusiasm flaccid and my wallet happy. When this magical baby showed up on my Instagram feed (courtesy of enabler Julie of <u><a href="http://pdxbeautiful/" target="_blank">@pdxbeautful</a></u>) my skincare boner sprang to attention and I set out to get my hands on it <i>stat</i>.<br><br><h3>In this post</h3><ul><li><b>Photos of the Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion Brightening Golden Bird 2017 Limited Edition</b></li><li><b>Where to get the Limited Edition cushions</b></li><li><b>What cushions fit into this case for more shade options</b></li><li><b>Swatches of #11 and #13 vs Mac NC10 and NC15</b></li></ul><br>I&#39;ve reviewed the <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/sulwhasoo-cushion-review-swatch.html" target="_blank">Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion #13</a></u> and I&#39;ve been using the Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion Brightening #11 for a while. I&#39;ll be doing a full review of it in the future, but right now, it&#39;s all about this cushion case.<br><br><div></div></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/05/sulwhasoo-2017-limited-edition-cushion.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-23961146027878378592017-05-24T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.874-04:00First Impressions: 5 K-Beauty Sunscreens for Summer<div>I get asked &quot;what makes Korean beauty products better?&quot; all the time, and the answer is always the same: they&#39;re not somehow magically better, because you can find good, bad, and mediocre products anywhere. They are quite innovative however, and where Asian cosmetics (including Korean beauty) really shine (in my eyes) is <b>sunscreen</b>.<br><br>If I could send a message to myself 10 years ago, before I moved to the US and into the desert, <b>I&#39;d tell myself about Asian sunscreens</b>. I used to think I couldn&#39;t wear sunscreen, period! It gave me terrible skin reactions and felt unbearable. I got away with skipping sunscreen due to the relative weak sunlight in my region of Canada, but when I moved far south to an area of Texas that gets sandstorms, premature aging from epic sun damage happened <i>fast</i>.<br><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8LQP4c9XZO4/WSTFCqGKeaI/AAAAAAAAGh4/Ld0DNzYkRxg-fUypWzUIYk8BGMHaoTrQwCLcB/s1600/5KoreanSunscreens.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Korean sunscreen" border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8LQP4c9XZO4/WSTFCqGKeaI/AAAAAAAAGh4/Ld0DNzYkRxg-fUypWzUIYk8BGMHaoTrQwCLcB/s640/5KoreanSunscreens.PNG" title="5 Korean sunscreens for summer" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I&#39;ve rudely plunked my tray in the middle of the local wild bunny buffet</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br>If I&#39;d known there existed cosmetically elegant sunscreens that wouldn&#39;t cause my skin to erupt in painful breakouts within hours, I&#39;d still be enjoying the same wrinkle-free smoothness the women in my family normally have until their 40&#39;s. Not to mention a lowered risk of, y&#39;know, skin cancer.<br><br><h3>In this post</h3><ul><li><b>First impressions of 5 sunscreens from </b><b>Goodal, Innisfree, &amp; </b><b>Make P:rem</b></li></ul><br>I have reviewed one of these already, and I&#39;m currently testing some of the others. Full reviews will come in the future, but after <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BUaqtW3Df7X/" target="_blank">people on my Instagram expressed interest in a first impressions post</a></u>, here they are!<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/05/korean-sunscreens-summer.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-54628489938622216512017-05-22T09:30:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:25.003-04:00Balancing Ethics, Originality, and Sustainability: Thoughts for New K-Beauty Bloggers<div>So you think you might want to start a K-Beauty blog, because you&#39;re passionate about the products, you&#39;ve learned so much during your personal journey, and you want to connect with others like you; and <b>you should</b>. Those are all great reasons to start a blog in our little Asian beauty product niche, and there are such a staggering number of products (even if you were to stick to just K-Beauty) that there&#39;s an endless supply of new products to review and discuss.<br><br>Maybe you imagine yourself drinking tea in a bright but cozy corner of your home, feverishly writing about how much you loved (or hated) a largely unknown product, so that other enthusiasts can benefit from your experience.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MzGSonoCLcY/WSJx4RiyTeI/AAAAAAAAGhA/jiiNgAfWmVgIwci2ZZf80jvL78QARwuuQCLcB/s1600/KBeautyBloggerTips.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Beauty blogging tools, laptop, tea, sheet mask" border="0" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MzGSonoCLcY/WSJx4RiyTeI/AAAAAAAAGhA/jiiNgAfWmVgIwci2ZZf80jvL78QARwuuQCLcB/s640/KBeautyBloggerTips.PNG" title="K-Beauty blogging tools" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Laptop, tea, sheetmask, check. This is not what my workspace really looks like; it&#39;s missing me curled up in my chair, sans pants, balancing my laptop desk on my knees while I forget to drink my tea until it&#39;s cold. This is why I use tea cups with lids.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br>The truth is, writing posts claims only a small percentage of blogging time. The vast majority of the time required to run a blog is filled with behind-the-scenes tasks, and this has lead to the burn out of many a developing blogger.<br><br>Earlier this year, fellow <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">The Snailcast</a></u> podcaster Tracy of <u><a href="http://fanserviced-b.com/" target="_blank">Fanserviced-b</a></u> wrote a no-holds-barred daily breakdown of <u><a href="http://www.fanserviced-b.com/beauty-influencer/" target="_blank">A Week in the Life of a Beauty Influencer</a></u>, which made me exhausted in empathy just to read it. This post is about what pitfalls I&#39;ve encountered in the last 5 years, and my advice to new bloggers on how to dodge them.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Originality: find your voice</b></li><li><b>Sustainability: feast and famine</b></li><li><b>Ethics: shops, brands, and monetization</b></li><li><b>Upkeep: photography, webhosting, and social media</b></li></ul><br>Why am I writing this post? Since we&#39;re talking about behind-the-scenes transparency here, it&#39;s because: 1. I&#39;ve been tinkering with this post in my drafts for months, 2. I was inspired to write it by Tracy&#39;s post, 3. I am working on several product reviews that are still in the <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/05/how-i-test-and-review-products.html" target="_blank">testing phase</a></u>, 4. I have a product I want to drag back to hell but I don&#39;t want back-to-back negative reviews, and 5. because I see a lot of new bloggers falling into avoidable hazards out of inexperience.<br><br>I&#39;m learning constantly thanks to the kindness of others, and I want to pay it forward.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/05/ethics-originality-blogging.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-20764970482895369442017-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.858-04:00Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Fluid SPF50+ PA++++ Review: When You Need to Express Your Inner Mime<div>Sunscreen: like a seat belt, it&#39;s something we endure because the alternative possibly leads to death or disfigurement. Wearing it isn&#39;t optional, so the best one can hope for is that it&#39;s as unobtrusive as possible, but at minimum the seat belt doesn&#39;t mash your bosom when you wear it. This sunscreen isn&#39;t it. Sunscreens should be cosmetically elegant, meaning light and comfortable on the skin, and they should have full-spectrum high sun protection (SPF 50+, PA+++ or higher), with minimal white cast.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Mb1t1K43rQ/WRiwsRM2MvI/AAAAAAAAGd0/AY194RYsK_Y-dAo0AfADgosYB7RVcNgXACLcB/s1600/GoodalNaturalSunFluid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Fluid SPF50+ PA++++" border="0" height="454" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Mb1t1K43rQ/WRiwsRM2MvI/AAAAAAAAGd0/AY194RYsK_Y-dAo0AfADgosYB7RVcNgXACLcB/s640/GoodalNaturalSunFluid.JPG" title="Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Fluid SPF50+ PA++++" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I was definitely feeling the hanbang-inspired packaging this came in</i></td></tr></tbody></table>This is pretty easy if you use chemical (also known as &#39;organic&#39;) UV filters, but as they cause skin irritation and reactions for many people (including yours truly), many people with sensitive skin can only use physical (also known as &#39;inorganic&#39;) UV filters. Some of which are white. <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_dioxide#Pigment" target="_blank">Literally white pigment</a></u>. Nanoparticle forms of physical filters are supposed to have less white cast, but <u><a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/literature-review-safety-titanium-dioxide-and-zinc-oxide-nanoparticles-sunscreens" target="_blank">there&#39;s some debate about their safety</a></u>. The point of this dry paragraph is that physical sunscreens with minimal white cast are very rare. People like me hunt them in murky corners of the internet and have underground <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/04/weekday-randomness-turning-your.html" target="_blank">swap networks for decants</a></u>.<br><br><h2>In this post:</h2><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients</b></li><li><b>Swatches on NC10 and NC30 skin</b></li><li><b>What I&#39;ll repurchase instead</b></li><li><b>Final thoughts &amp; why I&#39;ll use it up</b></li></ul><br>I had high hopes for this one, because <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/09/goodal-mild-protect-natural-filter-sun.html" target="_blank">I loved the Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++</a></u>, so surely this almost-the-same-name-but-one-more-PA-rating sunscreen should also be good? Are you looking for the perfect undead base makeup-and-sunscreen combo for your daytime Hallowe&#39;en beach party or possibly playing Marley&#39;s Ghost in an afternoon matinée of A Christmas Carol at an outdoor theatre?<br><br>No? Then the Goodal Mild Protect Natural Filter Sun Fluid ain&#39;t what you&#39;re looking for. I&#39;m a Mac NC10 and it looks white as hell on me. I had to double check that it wasn&#39;t meant to be a <u><a href="http://www.sweetcorea.com/index.php?route=product/product&amp;product_id=166140" target="_blank">brightening cream</a></u>. Re-reading the marketing copy while writing this review, I&#39;m beginning to suspect that &quot;light finish&quot; isn&#39;t a reference to the texture, it&#39;s an invitation to a vampire cosplay. You&#39;ll see what I mean. <i>*cue ominous organ music and the flapping of bats*</i><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/05/goodal-mild-protect-fluid-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-77386996019600798302017-05-09T23:07:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:25.060-04:00Guest Post: Skincare Swap Experiment with Fifty Shades of Snail<i>You know what happens when skincare bloggers get together? Shenanigans. As some of you already guessed from our <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BT0RNxblJNh/?taken-by=fiddysnails" target="_blank">Instagram</a></u> <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BTzy176jwoL/?taken-by=snowwhiteandtheasianpear" target="_blank">posts</a></u>, I&#39;ve dragged my fellow snail Fiddy of <u><a href="https://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u> into some skincare routine-swapping mischief. You&#39;ll find a link to my companion post at the end of this guest post!</i><br><br><h2>My Skin Is a Spoiled Princess: Fiddy&#39;s Skincare Routine Swap Story</h2><i>By guest blogger Fiddy of <u><a href="https://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u></i><br><br>One of the things that alarms me the most in my blogging life is a reader&#39;s declaration that they&#39;ve decided to duplicate my routine all at once. To me, that&#39;s never a good idea. Everyone&#39;s skin is different, and no one person&#39;s routine should be a template for anyone else.<br><br>Which is why, when the lovely Cat asked me if I wanted to swap routines for a few days, I hesitated for a moment, pondered all the ways that things could go wrong, and enthusiastically agreed. What better way could there be to demonstrate the pitfalls of copying someone else&#39;s routine format, or to learn that maybe we&#39;re wrong and one way really is better than the other?<br><br><h3><span style="font-weight: normal;">Who am I and why are we doing this?</span></h3>This project was inspired by a <u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/refinery29/videos/1283225898441945/" target="_blank">Refinery29 piece</a></u> in which two women swapped their makeup routines--and actual makeup products--for clicks and funsies. Cat and I, being sane and germ-averse, and also impatient to get started, decided that instead of swapping actual products, we&#39;d adopt each others&#39; routine steps. This is a record of what happened to me on Cat&#39;s routine.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vsUOL0pTJh8/WRJ55xr9XAI/AAAAAAAAGdM/al1-DVrFO383ESLKxAbx9DzX-IF1J8_sACLcB/s1600/R29.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Refinery29&#39;s makeup swap video featuring one another&#39;s used makeup. Ugh." border="0" height="489" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vsUOL0pTJh8/WRJ55xr9XAI/AAAAAAAAGdM/al1-DVrFO383ESLKxAbx9DzX-IF1J8_sACLcB/s640/R29.PNG" title="Refinery29&#39;s makeup swap video featuring one another&#39;s used makeup. Ugh." width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Screencap featuring swapping used makeup from <u style="text-align: start;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/refinery29/videos/1283225898441945/" target="_blank">Refinery29s makeup swap video</a></u></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>For those of you who don&#39;t know me, either for real or in the way that Mariah doesn&#39;t know people, I&#39;m Fiddy, one of Cat&#39;s fellow <u><a href="http://www.thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">Snailcasters</a></u>. I usually confine my thoughts to <u><a href="http://www.fiftyshadesofsnail.com/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u>. I&#39;m here today at Cat&#39;s invitation to share my experience using her routine format, while she&#39;s currently camped out on my blog.<br><br>You guys are probably already familiar with Cat&#39;s skin, which is dehydrated, oily-combo, and prone to acne and clogged pores. Mine, on the other hand, leans dry. I don&#39;t have many problems with clogs or breakouts; instead, I&#39;m battling aging and hyperpigmentation.<br><br>As you can imagine, our routines look a little different.<br><br><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2017/05/skincare-swap-experiment.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-37263161601509660632016-11-27T23:52:00.000-05:002017-06-06T13:25:24.922-04:00Cosrx Low pH Gel Cleanser Review & Demo: My Acid Mantle is a Cheap Date<div>There&#39;s little not to like about the Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser; it&#39;s low pH, it&#39;s cheap, it foams, and it comes in a huge tube. I&#39;m into that. It&#39;s not a perfect product, but the flattened carcass of my current tube is a pretty eloquent testament on its own:<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vKQM0VEmtUg/WDuG0a3x1EI/AAAAAAAAF9c/tllPneVzTs89O6IKcOjxj-FRJwHTQ3m-ACLcB/s1600/CosrxLowpHCleanser.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser" border="0" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vKQM0VEmtUg/WDuG0a3x1EI/AAAAAAAAF9c/tllPneVzTs89O6IKcOjxj-FRJwHTQ3m-ACLcB/s640/CosrxLowpHCleanser.JPG" title="Cosrx Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I&#39;ve wrung every drop out of this tube.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>It&#39;s also popped up in many routine post on my <u><a href="https://www.instagram.com/snowwhiteandtheasianpear/" target="_blank">Instagram</a></u>, in my <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/03/beginner-friendly-simple-k-beauty.html" target="_blank">Beginner Friendly: Simple K-Beauty Starter Kits for 4 Skin Types</a></u> series, and in several posts. I&#39;ve been living the low pH life since diving into the studies on pH in <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2014/09/skincare-discovery-why-ph-of-your.html" target="_blank">Why the pH of Your Cleanser Matters</a></u> back in 2014, but low pH is just the <i>first </i>criteria needed to earn a spot on my sink.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients &amp; gel 1st cleanser demo</b></li><li><b>Review &amp; foaming 2nd cleanser demo</b></li></ul><br>After I had to engage a bunch of whacking, flapping, squeezing, and scraping to get it out, I realized that I was rapidly running out of product with which to photograph for a review. Time to get it done!<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/11/cosrx-low-ph-gel-cleanser-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-30413442711194405822016-11-21T17:54:00.000-05:002017-06-06T14:15:17.483-04:00A Reluctant Review: Paula's Choice BHA Exfoliant<div>In last week&#39;s post <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/11/skincare-SOS-routine.html" target="_blank">Skincare SOS: My Recovery Routine When I&#39;ve Been Bad</a></u>, I mentioned I&#39;ve been using the <b>Paula&#39;s Choice Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment With 2% BHA</b> to help undo the results of neglecting my skin. While most of my <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/Skincare%20Wardrobe" target="_blank">Skincare Wardrobe</a></u> is comprised of Korean beauty products and cosmetics from Asia, I can&#39;t deny that western skincare is still in the lead when it comes to acids. Specifically, acid exfoliants, chemical peels, and prescription-strength &quot;bring your skin to Snesus&quot; topicals like <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/09/a-review-of-pocketderm-why-im-azelaic.html" target="_blank">azelaic acid and retinol</a></u>.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8_-QIcfOklQ/WDIecvbcENI/AAAAAAAAF8w/DzDENEPxbtciVirFjVw_5iJWWyV98HkMACLcB/s1600/PaulasChoiceBHA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Paula&#39;s Choice Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment With 2% BHA" border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8_-QIcfOklQ/WDIecvbcENI/AAAAAAAAF8w/DzDENEPxbtciVirFjVw_5iJWWyV98HkMACLcB/s640/PaulasChoiceBHA.JPG" title="Paula&#39;s Choice Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment With 2% BHA" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Studies courtesy of my research frenzy for <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/cosrx-bha-power-liquid-exfoliant-review.html" target="_blank">Cosrx BHA Power Liquid Exfoliant Review &amp; My Descent Into BHA Research Madness</a></u></i></td></tr></tbody></table>However, with a name like &quot;Paula&#39;s Choice Resist Daily Pore-Refining Treatment With 2% BHA&quot;, you would think it was a K-Beauty product, right next to other &quot;ridiculously long product name&quot; titleholders like the &quot;<u><a href="https://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/2015/06/18/missha-borabit-ljh-vita-propolis-ampoule-banila-co-essence-oil-reviews/" target="_blank">Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Borabit Ampoule</a></u>&quot; and ... well, too many others to list. Interestingly, Paula&#39;s Choice does make Asia-exclusive versions of their products, but this isn&#39;t one of them.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients &amp; how to apply</b></li><li><b>How I was lured away from my usual BHA</b></li><li><b>The good and the bad</b></li></ul><br> I&#39;m somewhat reluctantly reviewing this product, because I&#39;m not a big fan of the company, but dodgy science demos and flip-flopping shade parades aside, they make some gooood acids.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/11/paulas-choice-bha-exfoliant-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-14188044970289937492016-11-14T22:51:00.001-05:002017-06-06T13:25:24.826-04:00Skincare SOS: My Recovery Routine When I've Been Bad<div>I&#39;m in the dermal doghouse. My skin is in crisis: dry <i>and </i>greasy, flakes everywhere, clogged pores overrun with sebaceous filaments &amp; blackheads, dull &amp; uneven texture, every wrinkle in sharp relief, and coated in a disgusting shell of dead skin mixed with sebum and who knows what else. I&#39;m sorry, skin; I know I&#39;ve done you wrong.<br><br>Today, as I apologized to my skin for neglecting it for ... weeks, really, it occurred to me that rather than reviewing the cleanser I was about to use in my &quot;bringing my skin back from exile&quot; routine, I should talk about that instead. So today&#39;s post is all about how to bring skin back from the brink of despair.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj6d4q_CZVs/WCpEemm2lVI/AAAAAAAAF50/cwOBvGisj0Qc7lwClwXtLeFMGg7ojpsVACLcB/s1600/SkincareSOS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lineup of Korean Beauty and Taiwanese Beauty products" border="0" height="332" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj6d4q_CZVs/WCpEemm2lVI/AAAAAAAAF50/cwOBvGisj0Qc7lwClwXtLeFMGg7ojpsVACLcB/s640/SkincareSOS.JPG" title="Skincare for troubled skin" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Farewell, lovely things on the right, until this skincare penance is over.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Obviously, everyone&#39;s skin is different, and what works for me isn&#39;t going to work for everyone, but it&#39;s not the specific products which are important, but their function, so anything that fills that role will work!<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Routine to recover from long-term neglect; illness, depression, or skincare ennui</b></li><ul><li>Cleansing, re-balancing, and dealing with breakouts</li></ul><li><b>Products I avoid while I&#39;m nursing my skin back to health</b></li></ul><br>As tempting as it is to go hard with every problem solver in your <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search/label/Skincare%20Wardrobe" target="_blank">Skincare Wardrobe</a></u> to bring your skin up to speed, resist the urge for instant gratification. It will only bring woe-- and breakouts, more flakes, and possibly permanent damage. We&#39;re playing the long game, and patience will be rewarded.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/11/skincare-SOS-routine.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-17926068463326985282016-11-06T01:30:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.832-04:00Korean Buying Service Haul: Jung Saem Mool, Make P:rem, & Pretty Bottles<div>As much as I love how accessible K-Beauty has become, there&#39;s nothing quite like getting an order of hard-to-find products straight from Korea. This haul had a rocky journey getting to me, especially when I thought I spotted a car speeding away after thieving one of the boxes off my porch, but everything arrived safely at last, and I&#39;ve accepted that good light for photos is something I won&#39;t see again until the season changes, so here we are.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-weeDgdSddjE/WB4cMv6JnoI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/w-MYv7lLbYMo08sEf2ECkavRD6iUjrROQCLcB/s1600/JSMHaul.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Korean beauty products purchased with a buying service" border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-weeDgdSddjE/WB4cMv6JnoI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/w-MYv7lLbYMo08sEf2ECkavRD6iUjrROQCLcB/s640/JSMHaul.JPG" title="Korean buying service order" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>&#39;Tis the season for the Haul-idays? Also, check out that adorable panda note! </i><span style="font-family: &quot;courier new&quot; , &quot;courier&quot; , monospace;"><i>:3</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table>This package arrived in two boxes, one of which came more than a week after the first one, which <i>itself </i>was a few weeks delayed, leaving me sweating over their whereabouts. As usual, I ordered my goodies through Amy of <u><a href="http://www.boyahshop.com/" target="_blank">Boyah Shop</a></u>, who remains <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/03/boyah-shop-korean-buying-service-review.html" target="_blank">both the best and the cutest buying service I&#39;ve ever worked with</a></u>.<br><br>I also made my first purchase through AliExpress, because my thirst for gorgeous Hanbang-themed packaging for my decants overrode my nervousness about ordering from the site.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Jung Saem Mool Beauty: Colour correcting palette, blushes, &amp; sample swag</b></li><li><b>Make P:rem: Cleansing water, cleansing foam, &amp; cleansing ... pack??</b></li><li><b>About Me: Ginseng mask pack &amp; disaster</b></li><li><b>AliExpress: Hanbangin&#39; mist bottles</b></li><li><b>Sulwhasoo: Perfecting Brightening #11 &amp; Evenfair Perfecting #11 cushions, &amp; sample service galore</b></li></ul><br>If you aren&#39;t familiar with how a buying service works, here&#39;s a quick recap: <b>1.</b> you tell your buyer what you want, <b>2.</b> they invoice you for what it will cost them to buy your goods + a small fee for their service, <b>3.</b> they receive the goods and prepare them for shipment, and invoice you for the actual shipping cost, <b>4.</b> you receive your package and squee.</div><div><br></div><div>If you&#39;re looking for more details on how to <i>find </i>what you want, check out this post: <u><a href="http://snowwhiteandthepear.blogspot.com/2014/12/kahime-and-snows-guide-to-shopping-for.html" target="_blank">Guide to using a Korean buying service when you don&#39;t know Korean, ft blogger Kahime</a></u> , which covers everything from copypaste-able keywords and brands in Korean, shopping sites, search engines, and an automated calculator to estimate the KRW currency conversion and your final costs.</div><div><br></div><div>The perks of using a buying service is that you can get products that aren&#39;t readily available through regular K-Beauty vendors, and/or skip huge retail markups. I&#39;ve mostly done the former in this haul, but I&#39;ve had <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/01/avecko-haul-products-i-purchased_25.html" target="_blank">posts where I&#39;ve detailed the crazy savings</a></u> you can pull off depending on what you purchase. Let&#39;s get to it!</div><div></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/11/korean-buying-service-jung-saem-mool.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-19744487356044284332016-10-03T16:22:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.843-04:00Multiple Skincare Steps: Neither Vanity nor Virtue<div>I&#39;ve had a lot of thoughts percolating around in the last week about skincare and the relative virtues of a minimal, or maximized, skincare routine. I&#39;m not sure why people are getting caught up in debunking a multi-step routine lately, but sometimes it takes on an odd tone. I think it&#39;s understandable that we are so quick to assign virtue (or vanity) to skincare, especially in those groups who have been influenced by a &quot;skincare first, makeup second&quot; philosophy, which is a key concept in K-Beauty. <br><br>It&#39;s not surprising that things veer into subconscious bias pretty quickly-- cosmetics are pretty intrinsically linked to vanity, and that gets caught up in societal constructs around attractiveness, worth, and virtue.<br><br>Sometimes skincare is just skincare, though, and I don&#39;t think we need all the baggage with it.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Oqd8E39frI/V_KhSEwpC3I/AAAAAAAAF04/RVFtObLglk8fNqkXVy9OdGydYHKHpfRoQCLcB/s1600/MinimizedandMaximizedRoutine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Example of minimal and maximized Korean skincare routines" border="0" height="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Oqd8E39frI/V_KhSEwpC3I/AAAAAAAAF04/RVFtObLglk8fNqkXVy9OdGydYHKHpfRoQCLcB/s640/MinimizedandMaximizedRoutine.JPG" title="Example of minimal and maximized Korean skincare routines" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Neither of these routines are a measure of virtue or vanity. They&#39;re just skincare.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>To this day, we repeat tales of Cleopatra&#39;s supposed cosmetic excesses as the pinnacle of legendary vanity, even as we add sheet masks with donkey milk and honey essences to our carts because hey, if donkey milk and honey were a favourite of hers, it&#39;s worth checking out? As a counterpoint to makeup, which has always had connotations on the virtuousness of the wearer, skincare falls on a wide spectrum between the most basic of hygiene to the most expensive of indulgences, ensuring there&#39;s always going to be a sweet spot for everyone.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><br><ul><li><b>Skincare first, makeup second: K-Beauty influence in western makeup</b></li><li><b>The 10+ step routine myth - it doesn&#39;t matter, let it go</b></li><li><b>Self-care, treat choself, and mindful spending</b></li></ul><br>It seems as complex skincare routines become more common, what was once a necessary chore has achieved the same infamy as its cosmetic cousin, with judgements about vain excess and the backlash of virtuous minimalism cropping up beyond just makeup.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/10/multiple-skincare-steps-vanity-and-virtue.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-51845536971460825662016-09-27T16:59:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.975-04:00Tower of Empties: Empties, Discards, and PrettiesLast week, I mentioned in <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/whats-in-my-stash-forgotten-finds.html" target="_blank">What&#39;s In My Stash: Forgotten Finds &amp; Organization Overhaul</a></u> that one of the last tasks I had on my to-do list was to tackle a giant box of empties. I wasn&#39;t kidding; this thing is so massive it deserved its own post! Behold the dragon, unslain:<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY7iTvmhRZU/V-nJBcKxiMI/AAAAAAAAFzE/aWRDnbL_UMM10migjpQ9W8kQoc4MYld9QCLcB/s1600/BoxofEmpties.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY7iTvmhRZU/V-nJBcKxiMI/AAAAAAAAFzE/aWRDnbL_UMM10migjpQ9W8kQoc4MYld9QCLcB/s640/BoxofEmpties.JPG" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Just imagine how big this box is, if my phone looks that tiny. Click for huge size.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>I admit I was a bit daunted, but I was determined get my office to 100% organized, so this box needed to be dealt with. It contained a mash-up of empties tucked back in their boxes, packaging for products I&#39;m currently using, empties orphaned from their boxes and boxes orphaned from their empties, products banished to the discard pile, and gorgeous product packaging worth keeping regardless of how I felt about the products inside.<br><br>There was also a staggering number of sheet mask boxes, which I haven&#39;t included in the photos because there would be no room for anything else. That reminds me, I still need to inventory my sheet masks ... oh dear. Still not at 100% Another day, then. <i>*shakes fist at the sky*</i><br><br>So without further ado, here&#39;s the <b>Tower of Empties</b> (at least what would fit) precariously perched in my office:<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7y-tSEJc1Bo/V-nJBXquVXI/AAAAAAAAFzc/Sta1r845OEoleB5u28MQElGo8nH6ubkDACEw/s1600/TowerofEmpties.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The tower of empties, discards, and prettily packaged products" border="0" height="546" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7y-tSEJc1Bo/V-nJBXquVXI/AAAAAAAAFzc/Sta1r845OEoleB5u28MQElGo8nH6ubkDACEw/s640/TowerofEmpties.JPG" title="The tower of empties, discards, and prettily packaged products" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It looks like so much less when it&#39;s all tidily arranged, no? Ah wait, that&#39;s right, this is all that would fit without falling off. Click for huge size.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Mmm, so many empties. I&#39;ve taken close-ups of each tier, and will be calling out some notable products from each. They&#39;ll be numbered for ease of &quot;what the heck is that one 4 places from the left?!&quot; identification.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>The &quot;would not repeat&quot; tier</b></li><li><b>The &quot;gone but not forgotten&quot; tier</b></li><li><b>The &quot;so pretty I&#39;m hoarding it&quot; tier</b></li></ul><br>Of course, now that I&#39;ve managed to assemble this house of <strike>cards</strike> boxes and bottles in order to take photos of it, I need to pack it all away because our struggle has reduced my office to rubble.<br><br>Onward to the goods!<br><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/tower-of-empties-discards-pretties.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-69194629630136787672016-09-20T03:14:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:25.032-04:00What's In My Stash: Forgotten Finds & Organization Overhaul<div>This weekend I finally battled my stash, and I believe I&#39;ve succeeded in wrestling it into submission. I may have ragged fingernails, skinned knuckles, and more bruises than I want to contemplate, but after a weekend of hauling around boxes, sorting piles of products, and late-night furniture assembly, I&#39;ve finally managed to properly set up my stash! <br><br>By that, I mean that I wanted a way for me to visually see my skincare stash at a glance instead of having to go digging through drawers and boxes, because I have a lot of interesting things that I just don&#39;t pull out and ogle nearly enough. Like these:<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zM4BIlAHb9E/V9-P182GWiI/AAAAAAAAFuY/ZMwYhgi4yPI5MSFVzBbyoPo5nq1OwMhqgCLcB/s1600/IOPEcasesSWS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Limited edition IOPE duochrome case and Sulwhasoo 2004 Shine Classic compact" border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zM4BIlAHb9E/V9-P182GWiI/AAAAAAAAFuY/ZMwYhgi4yPI5MSFVzBbyoPo5nq1OwMhqgCLcB/s640/IOPEcasesSWS.JPG" title="Limited edition IOPE duochrome case and Sulwhasoo 2004 Shine Classic compact" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>IOPE, why did you have to change your refill inserts right after I bought this limited edition case for a giveaway?</i></td></tr></tbody></table>I&#39;m not usually too concerned with the state of my stash organization, because I have it organized <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/p/spreadsheet.html" target="_blank">in a spreadsheet</a></u> that keeps track of it all for me, but my home office had become overrun with partially-unpacked orders, various photography trappings, and a thriving colony of packing materials that seemed to be breeding in every corner.<br><br>I&#39;m good at keeping track of what I buy (that spreadsheet, yo) but I somehow manage to forget to enter the things I receive as gifts, either from friends or &quot;gifts with purchase&quot; which arrived in store orders.<br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>The result: behind the scenes in my home office &amp; tamed stash</b></li><li><b>Interesting finds from the depths of my stash: &quot;Oh hey, I should totally use this!&quot;</b></li><li><b>Adventures in stash wonderland: inside drawers, shelves, refrigerator, &amp; my bathroom counter</b></li><li><b>What&#39;s left on my to-do list</b></li></ul><br>I was amazed at how little space it took up once I sorted through everything and pulled out all the empties, boxes, and discards-- I have no idea how large the average beauty blogger&#39;s stash is, but compared to the jaw-dropping stash videos I&#39;ve seen, mine is downright tiny! Bless you, spreadsheet, for keeping me in check, even if you can&#39;t display all the pretty packaging. Time for lots of photos!<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/whats-in-my-stash-forgotten-finds.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-53894808706972983102016-09-11T23:37:00.001-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.991-04:00Winter is Coming: Plotting My K-Beauty Skincare Routine for Colder Weather<div>It&#39;s hot right now. Humid. Muggy. Sticky. Sweaty. My current routine has 2.5 steps, because I can&#39;t stand moving around a lot while I cleanse, and forget <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2013/03/skincare-discovery-layering-multiple.html" target="_blank">product multi layering</a></u>. I haven&#39;t posted a <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/07/updated-multi-step-korean-skincare.html" target="_blank">summer routine</a></u> this year, because there&#39;s been very little routine to post. I&#39;ve been using a cleanser, a BHA exfoliant, and sometimes when I&#39;m extra motivated, a <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/07/science-meets-k-beauty-wisdom-how.html" target="_blank">chilled sheet mask</a></u>.<br><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Essences, serums, hydrating toners, rich sheet masks, creams, oils? Urgh, I&#39;m feeling slimy just thinking about them, yet that&#39;s exactly what I&#39;m doing - thinking ahead. Even though it&#39;s still 80+ degrees with ultra-high humidity that leaves me waking in a puddle of my own sweat, <b>I&#39;ve been plotting and planning my autumn season skincare routine</b>. <br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8No5MdrofGo/V9XasaRgdVI/AAAAAAAAFo4/-zEnmjdZHeo7JdOkYLqom5X6OUDxudTwwCLcB/s1600/FallKBeautyProducts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Korean beauty products, acid exfoliants, Curology" border="0" height="304" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8No5MdrofGo/V9XasaRgdVI/AAAAAAAAFo4/-zEnmjdZHeo7JdOkYLqom5X6OUDxudTwwCLcB/s640/FallKBeautyProducts.JPG" title="New products for my fall K-Beauty lineup" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The only sign of the coming colder weather is shorter days and rapidly fading light.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Planning ahead allows me to leisurely research and contemplate what products I might like to try, figure out where they would go in my <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/05/how-i-test-and-review-products.html" target="_blank">testing schedule</a></u>, comparison shop, and mull over the contents of my cart. I&#39;m big on <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/search?q=mindfulness" target="_blank">mindfulness</a></u> when it comes to beauty, and this is the equivalent of shopping while you&#39;re full, instead of waiting until you&#39;re hungry and just want all the things.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>The seasonal skincare approach</b></li><li><b>New products I&#39;m adding into my routine</b></li><ul><li><b>Cleansers, actives, hydrators, creams, sleeping packs</b></li></ul><li><b>What I&#39;m looking to add to my routine</b></li><ul><li><b>Sheet masks, mists, and sunscreens</b></li></ul></ul><br>I have no idea how many of these are going to work out, but it feels good to have some new product testing on the horizon, instead of endless repeats of the same minimalist routine. Bring on the cold weather, I am beyond ready!<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/plotting-winter-kbeauty-routine.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-29013139454992769732016-09-05T02:02:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.889-04:00Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser Review: We Tried, But It's Time to Break Up<div>Yep, that&#39;s right, a review of the low pH non-foaming Milky Jelly cleanser from Glossier. Your eyes do not deceive you; this is a non-K-Beauty, non-Asian product, despite my overall efforts to <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/07/is-k-beauty-for-everyone-perspectives.html" target="_blank">keep my blog content consistent</a></u>. I do try, and use, western products regularly, I just rarely post about them. Since I&#39;m all about that <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2014/09/skincare-discovery-why-ph-of-your.html" target="_blank">low pH cleanser life</a></u>, and this cleanser was getting good reviews from other K-Beauty fans, it&#39;s been on my radar for quite a while.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSpChAg5XZg/V8yorZgK75I/AAAAAAAAFl4/ozd4OgEJkkgGRNQAUOl8vFnd5_AddVlzgCLcB/s1600/GlossierMilkyJelly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser" border="0" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSpChAg5XZg/V8yorZgK75I/AAAAAAAAFl4/ozd4OgEJkkgGRNQAUOl8vFnd5_AddVlzgCLcB/s640/GlossierMilkyJelly.JPG" title="Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser Review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>We&#39;re visiting family out of state, who are bemused at me hauling around a giant white table top for photos.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>While hemming and hawing over whether to grab it, my fellow <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">Snailcaster</a></u> Tracy of <u><a href="http://www.fanserviced-b.com/review-glossier-milky-jelly-cleanser/" target="_blank">Fanserviced-b</a></u> offered to send me a bottle since she had some spare store credit, I thought, why not? Let&#39;s see what the fuss is about. Now that I&#39;m almost halfway through the bottle, it&#39;s time for a review!<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients &amp; thoughts on the hype</b></li><li><b>Demo as a dry &amp; wet (first and second) cleanser vs double cleansing</b></li><li><b>What I&#39;d rather use instead</b></li></ul><br>This review is going to be fairly photo heavy, because I had to pack a lot of stuff to work on this review while we were out of state for the long weekend and then felt obligated to use it, haha.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/09/glossier-milky-jelly-cleanser-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-77765631700949959832016-08-29T22:09:00.000-04:002017-06-06T13:25:25.066-04:00Cosrx BHA Power Liquid Exfoliant Review & My Descent Into BHA Research Madness<div>This has been a difficult post. It was supposed to be merely a review of the Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid with a delicious little snack science on the side, like I did in <a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/milky-dress-vita-c-powder-review.html" style="text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Milky Dress Vita C+ Powder Review &amp; It&#39;s Time to Get Nerdy About Vitamin C</a>. Fun, crisp, &amp; fluffy, with a satisfying aftertaste.<br><br>Unfortunately, this was not to be; I&#39;ve spent days hunting down studies, tracking the muddled pawprints of sources in roving bands of reference herds, stalking my prey through stacks of marginally related papers, and all I&#39;ve managed to uncover is some seedy research practices and what appears to be a multi-decade ongoing game of academic telephone.<br><div><br></div><div>Thankfully, there&#39;s more to products than just their <u><a href="http://international_nomenclature_of_cosmetic_ingredients/" target="_blank">INCI</a></u> profile, and having gone through a good four or so empties of the Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid, a daily BHA (beta hydroxy acid) chemical exfoliant, I feel confident in discussing my personal experiences with this product even if the exact details of its scientific pedigree remains murky.</div><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtWGoxgP9zI/V8OcTLeaBXI/AAAAAAAAFlE/NMxQU0qpb_ofL1VFJv-3EzSy91DCv6I2QCLcB/s1600/CosrxBHAEmpty.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid beta hydroxy acid exfoliant" border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mtWGoxgP9zI/V8OcTLeaBXI/AAAAAAAAFlE/NMxQU0qpb_ofL1VFJv-3EzSy91DCv6I2QCLcB/s640/CosrxBHAEmpty.JPG" title="Cosrx BHA Blackhead Power Liquid" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Emptying a bottle and cracking into a fresh one is so satisfying!</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Ultimately, reviews are (or should be) our thoughts on products that we&#39;ve used, and I&#39;ve certainly used this enough, by both time and volume, to be ready to review it; I just never did so as there&#39;s already excellent reviews of this product out there, such as fellow <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">Snailcast</a></u> podcaster <u><a href="https://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/2015/06/10/review-cosrx-bha-blackhead-power-liquid/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u>, and Sheryll of <u><a href="http://thewanderlustproject.com/2015/04/cosrx-bha-blackhead-power-liquid-vs-paulas-choice-skin-perfecting-2-bha-liquid-exfoliant/#.V8PLhJgrLDc" target="_blank">The Wanderlust Project</a></u>. However, I was keen to do another review-with-a-slice-of-science post, since I enjoyed the last one so much, so I decided to take advantage of our household&#39;s as-yet-unexpired university library subscription and hit the research papers. I sort of regret that, but we&#39;ll plumb those depths of despair later.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Why chemical exfoliants are swoon-worthy</b></li><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients &amp; short review</b></li><li><b>A research overview on the benefits of BHA and salicylic acid</b></li><ul><li>BHAs don&#39;t do what we think they do</li><li style="display: inline !important;"></li><li>Why use BHA at all?</li><li style="display: inline !important;"></li><li>Photoprotection, not photosensitivity</li><li style="display: inline !important;"></li><li>Does it work on acne?</li></ul></ul><ul><li><b>Final thoughts</b></li></ul><br>I&#39;m going to keep the review portion short and sweet, so I can focus on the results of my research efforts; this way you can bail out of the rabbit hole if you&#39;re not into descending into nerdy madness.<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/cosrx-bha-power-liquid-exfoliant-review.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-1108375968182788582016-08-14T21:04:00.001-04:002017-06-06T14:16:47.284-04:00Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion #13 Review & Swatches<div>I used to hate cushions. I didn&#39;t like the unsanitary concept, the limited shade ranges, the high price point and low product volume, the lack of samples for colour matching before purchase, and after the <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2014/09/weekly-review-beauty-tool-edition.html" target="_blank">DIY cushion method was a hot mess</a></u>, I gave up on the idea as just a runaway hype train.<br><br>I was wrong, kinda. Like their BB cream counterparts, shade ranges are limited although <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/07/is-k-beauty-for-everyone-perspectives.html" target="_blank">there are signs that&#39;s improving</a></u>, and I was relieved to hear that cushions are apparently formulated <u><a href="http://www.thesnailcast.com/episode-4-cushions-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" target="_blank">with the maximum preservative concentration possible</a></u> to offset the hygiene concerns. There are now cushions for every budget and one really shouldn&#39;t be using them for longer than a few months anyway, but unfortunately there&#39;s still a dearth of options should you want to test to see if a cushion shade will fit you before you buy. There are adorable tiny cushions out there, but they&#39;re rare.<br><br><b>That means swatches are critical to the &quot;sight unseen&quot; buying process of cushions</b>. As fellow <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">Snailcast</a></u> podcaster Tracy of <u><a href="http://fanserviced-b.com/" target="_blank">Fanserviced-b</a></u> put it during our <u><a href="http://www.thesnailcast.com/episode-4-cushions-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/" target="_blank">episode on cushions</a></u>,&quot;people who swatch cushions are first in line for heaven&quot; so it&#39;s time for me to pay it forward.<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4i0IknOybcc/VhCYGn9yxHI/AAAAAAAADzg/P8u2LJkmFqMADDd1ulTD5uPj1EhWZq9vACPcB/s1600/DowajaHaulSulwhasoo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion #13 refill and limited edition peony case" border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4i0IknOybcc/VhCYGn9yxHI/AAAAAAAADzg/P8u2LJkmFqMADDd1ulTD5uPj1EhWZq9vACPcB/s640/DowajaHaulSulwhasoo.JPG" title="Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion #13 Review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Insert in #13 via a buying service + Limited Edition Peony cushion purchased from 11st</i></td></tr></tbody></table>One of the things I love about cushions is the ability to <b>swap in different inserts but keep the same case</b>; I managed to get my paws on one of the 2014 limited edition Sulwhasoo Peony cushion cases last year, although I purchased it in a shade I knew was wrong for me. That&#39;s no barrier-- I simply purchased some refill inserts and swapped those in instead. You can read more on how to use 11st here: <u><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2015/06/level-up-your-k-beauty-obsession-guide.html" target="_blank">Level Up Your K-Beauty Obsession: a Guide to 11st + My 1st &#39;Real&#39; Cushion!</a></u><br><br><h2>In this post:</h2><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients</b></li><li><b>Comparison swatches of Mac NC15, Sulwhasoo Perfecting Brightening #17, and Sulwhasoo Perfecting #13</b></li><li><b>Cushion demo &amp; why I shouldn&#39;t apply makeup in my bathroom</b></li><li><b>Instagram 10k thank-you giveaway details</b></li></ul><br>In an effort to be thorough, I&#39;ll be providing both <b>arm swatches</b> comparing the Sulwhasoo cushions I have next to Mac NC15, and also <b>face swatches</b> as well, so you can see the coverage, finish, and what it looks like on a real face. When I finish this review, I&#39;m going to try to drink away the image of my bare skin in HD. Clearly I need to get back on the PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) fading wagon after slacking off on actives for the summer.<br><br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/sulwhasoo-cushion-review-swatch.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2541982013000251431.post-47319367548139001472016-08-04T23:52:00.002-04:002017-06-06T13:25:24.963-04:00Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask Review: Tested & Detested<div>Mid-week is the perfect time for a <strike>mini-</strike>review of the famous Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask. <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Update: my word counter tells me that &quot;mini&quot; review is a lie. Eh, everything&#39;s relative!)</span> </i> This mask is old news; it&#39;s a classic example of <u><a href="http://www.fanserviced-b.com/skincaretainment-connection-and-the-culture-of-korean-beauty/" target="_blank">skincaretainment</a></u>, and the product is more well-known for its entertainment value than the actual effects on the skin. That&#39;s partly why I&#39;ve avoided it until now, but it&#39;s summer and my skin is a slimy mess in this humidity so it&#39;s very ready for an occasional clay mask. Why not one that inflates into a comically wide cloud of foam while on your face, making you look like a pixar character while doing double duty of first cleansing <i>and</i> clay mask style deep pore cleansing all in one go?<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KFl0Mi9CCDc/V6QMfEnb8XI/AAAAAAAAFjM/Tu60T9s4OqUerlGfqDj3YozGsCWx_8NqQCLcB/s1600/ElizaveccaBubbleMask.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask product, box, lid, and spatula" border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KFl0Mi9CCDc/V6QMfEnb8XI/AAAAAAAAFjM/Tu60T9s4OqUerlGfqDj3YozGsCWx_8NqQCLcB/s640/ElizaveccaBubbleMask.JPG" title="Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask Review" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There is an inner jar lid/seal to keep air from reacting to the product.</i></td></tr></tbody></table>Sounds too good to be true, right? Plus, lots of people have used this mask, including fellow <u><a href="http://thesnailcast.com/" target="_blank">Snailcast</a></u> podcaster <u><a href="https://fiftyshadesofsnail.com/2016/04/13/the-clay-mask-that-ruined-my-night-plus-some-gentler-pore-cleaners-and-my-rescue-masks/" target="_blank">Fifty Shades of Snail</a></u>, so I purchased a jar of it and give it a try. Then I dropped all irritants out of my routine and tried it again. Sometimes, you have to just have to hurt yourself twice to confirm something is bad news.<br><br><h3>In this post:</h3><ul><li><b>Product details</b></li><li><b>Ingredients</b></li><li><b>What it did to my face</b></li><li><b>What I&#39;d rather use instead</b></li></ul><br>Before using this mask the second time, I skipped anything that would compromise my moisture barrier for at least a week: no acid exfoliants, no manual exfoliants, no tretinoin, nothing to weaken my skin barrier or make me more sensitive. I wanted to make sure there was no chance the culprit was just piling clay on top of sensitive skin. Unfortunately, it still left my skin screaming for mercy and I smothered its cries with snail gel to recover.<br></div><a href="http://www.snowwhiteandtheasianpear.com/2016/08/elizavecca-bubble-clay-mask.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com24